Crossing signal for railroads



June 12, 1923. 1,458,885

J. R. JOHNSON CROSSING SIGNAL FOR RAILRQADS Filed Oct. 11, 1921 Patented June 12; 1923.

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" e mi m-a m B iieol es- To all whom it may concern!" a citizen otfFinland, residin at Portland,

in'the county ofMultnornah and Sta-tent Oregon,- have invented certain new and usetul Improvements in Crossing Signals for Railroadsio'f which the followlng is a specification.

, ing the crossing, p

Other object's of the inventionf will 'ap'-',

railroad cr'ossing signals and more particularly to anyimproved structure adapted to be 'oper'atedfto indicate to the 'perso'nsapproachingthe track that a train is approach-v pear *upo'n' consideration" of the *ifollowing detail description andac'companyin'g drawings,"wherein i y I The figure illustrates a perspective view of theapparatus constructed inaccordance Y with my invention.

Mounted upon the railroad tie 1 adjacent the railway rails 2 is a supporting "bar 3 which is rigidly secured to the ties and which has its central portion provided with a hearing 4 to receive an operating shaft 5. This shaft, as shown, extends beneath the rail 2 and is provided with an operating arm 6 adjacent, the inner side of the rail 2. A trip wheel 7 is mounted upon the free end of the arm 6 and the arm is long enough to cause the wheel 7 to be disposed adjacent. the

inner-side of the head of the rail sothat the *whecls of the train passing along the track will engage the trip wheel 7 and cause the trip arm (3 to be swung downwardly whereby the operating shaft 5 will be turned. Coil springs 8'are connected to the trip arm 6 and the supporting bar 3 for normally maintaining the trip arm in anqupright position whereby the wheel will be disposed slightly above the top of the rail whereby it may be conveniently engaged by the wheels offthe train. V

Mounted at the side of the track is a supporting post 10 having a bearing 11 to receive the outer end of theoperating shaft 5. Rigidly secured to the outer end of the operating shaft 5 beyond the bearing 11 is a cross arm 12 which is keyed or otherwise rigidly secured to the shaft 5 and provided with a striker arm 13 extending parallelto the outer end of the operating shaft 5 so that tmay engage a! swlngingarm'l t loosely hung from the outer "end of'the sh aft 5. The arm le-is adapted to be' fr'eely 1 0- l tated on thesliaft -5 so" that the memberg13 w1llengagethe arm 14 andswing it in :one-

direction when thezshatt 5 lStuI'IlGCl-blllTWlll causethe arm 14- toibe stationary when the v t v s I "shaft/51s turned in the 'oppositetdirection=.- This invention "relates to improvements in Astop #army'1'5 is emp-loyed' to engage -the' lower' end of j'thefswingin'g' arm' 14 whereby.

the signal post 18, which of/course; will be disposed nearfthe'streetcrossing; The cable 16 may be of any desired length so that the signal post 18- maybe; disposed at anydistance from i the 'trippi-n'g :apparatus flhe cross arms 19mounted onthe upper end of the signalipost 18 are 'pivotally' mounted.

' by a pivot, member'- 20 so that "the cross arinsf may swing/to attract the: attention ot-"per sons approaching the railroad' crossing;

The outer end of the lever 17 is connected by a'rod 21 to one of the cross arms 19 and a coil sprmg 22 is employed tonormallyzmaintain the cross arms in a position opposite to that to which they are moved by, therod 21.

The other cross'arm is also connectedby a spring to the supporting post or signal pole 18 and this cross arm is provided withl a depending hammer 23 suspended between two. metallic plates 24: which aresupported by a bracket from the post 18 'sothat as'th e cross arms 19 move the member 23 willintermittently strike the plates 24'.

A bracket arm 25 is employed to connect an operating lever 26 corresponding to the operating lever 17 anda cable 27 is extended from this lever to the signal apparatus at the oppositeside of the crossing so that the device 'mayibeoperated by a'train approaching from either direction.

When the apparatus is in use, it will be mounted as shown and it .will be noted-that when the train approaches the wheels will engage the trip wheel 7 ,the springs8 causing the wheel to spring back tonormal position afterleach-carwheelpasses over the trlp wheel so that there willhe an 'inter- 'mittent movement of the trip wheels while the train is passing over the rails at-this point. This will cause an intermittent movement of the operating apparatus so that the cross arms 19 will be rapidly moved upwardly and downwardly to attract the attention of a person approaching the railroad crossing so that they will be made aware of the approach of the train while the audible signal will attract attention and thus prevent any accident at the crossing.

Minor changes may be made in the details of construction without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the claims hereunto appended.

WVhat is claimed is a 1. A railroad signal apparatus comprising the combination with railway rails, and a signal including pivotally mounted cross arms, means for holding the cross arms in a fixedposition, a trip wheel arranged near one of the rails to be engaged by the Wheels of the train, an operating shaft connected to the trip wheels, an operating arm secured to the outer end of the shaft, a swinging lever loosely connected to the said shaft and adapted to be engaged by the operating lever when the latter'swings in one direction, means to, limit the movement of the swinging arm in the opposite direction, a lever pivotally mounted upon the signal post supporting the cross arm, means connecting the said cross arms with the said lever, and a flexible cable connecting the said swinging arm with the said lever whereby the said swinging signal arms may be intermittently swung as the wheels pass over the said trip wheel.

2. A railroad signal apparatus comprising the combination with railway rails, and a signal including pivotally mounted cross arms, means for holding the cross arms in a fixed position, a trip wheel arranged near one of the rails to be engaged by the wheels of the train, an operating shaft connected to the trip wheels, an operating arm secured to the outer end of the shaft, a swinging lever loosely connected to the said shaft and adapted to be engaged by the operating lever when the latter swings in one direction, means to limit the movement of the swinging arm in the opposite direction, a lever pivotally mounted upon the signal post supporting the cross arm, means connecting the said cross arms with the said lever, and a flexible cable connecting the said swinging arm with the said lever whereby the said swinging signal arms maybe intermittently swung as the wheels pass over the said trip wheel, an

audible signal and means carried by one of the moving signal armsto strike the audible signal, the said trip wheel being provided a with spring means to return the wheel, to. operative position as each wheel on the train passes over the said trip wheel.

In testimony whereof, I have affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses; JOHN R. JOHNSON. 5 .Witnesses:

CHARLEY HENDmoKsoN, LEO YACOBSON. 

